25 Up-and-Comers on the Local Theater Scene
Time Out New York
"TONY spotlights the theater-world stars of tomorrow, from the improv madcaps of 42nd Street to Coney Island's burlesque beauties. By David Cote, Jason Zinoman, Alexis Soloski and Trav S.D. ...What follows are 25 blossoming actors, directors, designers, companies and sideshow freaks that demand your attention. Remember their names: They are the future of theater."
"Best Alternative to Reality TV ... As the latest creators of documentary theater, the downtown troupe Civilians are giving Moisés Kaufman, Anna Deavere Smith et al. a musicalized run for their money. Their mission statement, as expressed in the perfectly ducky Canard, Canard, Goose?: 'We think pretty hard about stuff — then make a show about it.'"

And here's what the critics said about Canard, Canard, Goose?

Critics Pick in Time Out New York,
February 7 - 14, 2002
"Sublimely silly and shameless, this septet of downtown talent self-mockingly tackles the issue of animal neglect in film."

from the Time Out review (read the article):
"A cockeyed homage to documentary theater such as The Laramie Project as well as '80's teen-sleuth icon the Bloodhound Gang, the conceit of Canard, Canard, Goose? is that a group of vaguely concerned actors search out news stories and dramatize them...As silly as this mélange of sketch comedy, song and dance may be, it provides a surprisingly intelligent showcase for the ensemble and for composer Michael Friedman." - David Cote

The Village Voice, February 12, 2002 (read the article)
" ...there's real joy when the Civilians play themselves in all their misplaced, mistaken, vegetarian self-righteousness. Besides, it's not every company that can write bilingual comic songs or screw up in such a delightfully quackerjack fashion." - Alexis Soloski

digitalcity.com
"...this gifted new troupe is imaginatively lead by director Steve Cosson. Managing this much talent is no small feat. Name a recent Off-Off-Broadway show or emerging theatrical company of the past few years and it's likely that one of these fine actors was a part of it...Keep an eye on this troupe. They've got talent, style, convictions, and most importantly, a sense of humor." - Robert Kent

nytheatre.com
"It seems that when Disney (or as it turns out Columbia) filmed Fly Away Home they trained a flock of geese to fly in formation behind an ultralight aircraft and then abandoned them once the shoot was over...That at least is the story one of the company members hears while vacationing there, and, like in some Iron Curtain melodrama, her account galvanizes the collective to take action...Our brave theatre soldiers jump into the kulturmobile (actually a station wagon) and head off north to Long Lake, NY, in search of a story. What they find there is like Rashomon cubed. This is all conveyed in first person narration as the mercurial cast slips from embodying one Long Laker to another and then back to themselves. These transformations take place against a constantly shifting world of faux wood paneling and stuffed game animals, kudos to director Steve Cosson for his subtle manipulations of theatrical space." - Tim Cusack

For more information, email us at info@thecivilians.org.